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CHURCH ARCHIVES RELEASE fear the set will quickly disappear from the market, never to be DOCUMENTS ON DVD seen again. However, even the most hardened skeptics welcome the re- IN ASSOCIATION WITH BYU Studies lease and the ability it gives to do in-depth research at home. and BYU Press, the Church’s Family and Church History department has ELDER NELSON: GOD’S LOVE just released more than 400,000 doc- NOT UNCONDITIONAL uments from LDS archives. Priced at $1,299, this massive collection com- AN ENSIGN ARTICLE by Elder Russell prises two volumes for a total of 74 M. Nelson, rebutting the notion that DVDs. (DVDs can hold more than 4 gi- God’s love is unconditional, has gabytes of information—8 times the sparked animated discussion on LDS amount of a traditional CD-ROM.) 54 email lists. “God’s love cannot correctly DVDs, the bulk of the material, com- be characterized as unconditional,” prise the “Church Historian’s Office, says Elder Nelson in the February 2002 History of the Church, 1839–circa1882,” the Church magazine. “Understanding that divine Historian’s Office Journal, 1844–1879, and the Journal History love and blessings are not truly uncon- of the Church. The remaining discs contain diaries, letters, and ditional can defend us against common other documents from various Church leaders and prominent fallacies such as these: ‘Since God’s love early Latter-day Saints. A Joseph Smith collection, for example, is unconditional, He will love me re- totals more than 4,000 pages. Also included are the Brigham gardless. . . .’ These arguments are used Elder Russell M. Nelson Young letterpress books, diaries and correspondence of Joseph by anti-Christs to woo people with deception.” F. Smith, journals and letters of Lorenzo Snow, papers of This article puts the seal of approval on a doctrinal position George A. Smith, and diaries of J. Golden Kimball. quietly debated for some time now. SUNSTONE has learned The collection contains high-resolution scans, not type- that the question of whether God’s love is unconditional was scripts or text. So researchers will still need to search page by discussed by the Church’s correlation committee some five page, as they would at an archive. But pages can be enlarged. years ago and submitted to the First Presidency and the They can also be saved as separate files and opened in com- Quorum of the Twelve for direction. The highest governing puter-imaging programs where brightness and contrast can be bodies in the Church replied that God’s love is not uncondi- adjusted. tional, and the expression “God’s unconditional love” has since As with many historical archives, material deemed confi- been eliminated from all official publications. dential or inappropriate for public use is blacked out. Such in- BYU religion professor Joseph Fielding McConkie has op- stances are rare, however, and the collection claims there are posed the term “unconditional love” since the 1980s. “The no silent omissions—readers will always see a black cover over phrase itself is entirely unscriptural,” stated McConkie in June the censored portion to show where material has been 1987. “When I have asked people who teach this so-called omitted. Preservationists can also doctrine how they distinguish God’s ‘unconditional love’ from rest assured the original docu- salvation by grace as taught in the Protestant world, they have ments have not been altered. been unable to do so” (A Scriptural Search for the Ten Tribes and While most have hailed the re- Other Things We Lost [Brigham Young University, 1987], 7). lease of this collection as un- Best-selling LDS author Stephen E. Robinson also has ques- precedented and phenomenal, tioned the expression, but only in one meaning. “God’s love some have expressed concern. (understood as his desire for us) is unconditional,” wrote One issue raised is that of copy- Robinson in 1995. “God’s love (understood as his relationship right. Some believe the Church with us) is conditioned upon our positive response to his rushed to release this set by the wooing of us” (Following Christ [Deseret Book, 1995], 150). end of 2002 in order to secure Mormon feminist Janice Allred, whose book God the Mother future publishing rights to docu- [Signature Books, 1997] describes God’s love as unconditional, ments that, because of a change finds Elder Nelson’s article troubling. “Not only does Elder in publishing law, were about to Nelson fail to communicate the message of God’s love, but he lose copyright protection. also displays a lack of scholarship in his article,” says Allred. “It Others object to the price, seems less like he is attempting to understand what the scrip- complaining the Church is trying tures say about God’s love than he is trying to promote an to keep the collection out of the agenda of authoritarianism and conditional love: You are loved A blacked out entry from hands of most people. They also J. Golden Kimball’s diary and blessed only if you obey the rules unquestioningly.”
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STATEMENTS FROM AN ERA NOW GONE?
At this Christmas season Godliness characterizes [Christ’s] duties have Faith [in the Lord’s will] Charity develops in us as we reach out to all in a each of you who truly long been galactic, yet turns us toward the we see ourselves moving spirit of love and recon- loves the Lord. You are He noticed the widow Savior, his life, and his in our lives from a ciliation, even to those constantly mindful of the casting in her mite. I am unconditional love for ‘what’s in it for me’ kind who speak evil against Savior’s atonement and stunned at His perfect, us. of love to the love of us . . . In moments of rejoice in His uncondi- unconditional love of all. family and friends and, quiet, we reflect upon tional love. JOSEPH B. WIRTHLIN blessedly, beyond that to [Christ’s] matchless life NEAL A. MAXWELL Finding Peace in Our Lives an awareness of our and His unconditional RUSSELL M. NELSON Even As I Am Deseret Book, 1995, Lord’s unconditional love love for each of us. Ensign, Nov. 1991 Deseret Book, 1982, p. 177 for us that tells us of our p. 61 p. 115 divine kinship with one GORDON B. HINCKLEY another and with him. LDS Church News, AILEEN H. CLYDE 11 Dec. 1993, p. 4 Ensign, Nov. 1994 “unconditional love” p. 94
INTERNATIONAL LEADERS WON’T David Burton expresses optimism about a recent proposal by ATTEND GENERAL CONFERENCE mayor Rocky Anderson: “While some details are still to be worked out,” reads the statement, “the Church will support FOR THE FIRST time since they were organized as such, Area the key elements of the proposal when it is formally submitted Presidencies and Area Authority Seventies living outside the for public discussion. . . . The Church urges the fullest possible U.S. won’t be attending the April General Conference. In a public discussion of the proposal and remains optimistic con- veiled reference to the seemingly inevitable U.S.-led war with cerning its outcome.” Iraq, Church spokesman Dale Bills said the decision “will avoid As reported in the December 2002 SUNSTONE, under the problems caused by potential uncertainties.” In lieu of their plan, the city would give the Church the easement over the gathering in Salt Lake City, traditional conference week training two acres of disputed land the plaza sits on and allow the sessions for the area leaders will be facilitated via satellite and Church to invoke behavior and speech restrictions. In ex- DVD technology. change, the Church would donate a two-acre lot on Salt Lake City’s west side and help raise funds for a youth facility to be SATELLITE BROADCAST CELEBRATES built on the lot. As it stands today, the Planning Commission PRIMARY ANNIVERSARY will consider the proposal 9 April, and a vote by the City Council could come in late April or May. IN ANOTHER CHURCH first, tens of thousands of children The proposal is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Unity, gathered in stake centers in the U.S. and other countries to which includes a number of business, religious, and commu- hear President Gordon B. Hinckley speak in an event espe- nity leaders. Despite the consensus, some observers predict cially tailored just for them. Broadcast 8 February 2003 from further legal trouble for the city, as the decision could violate the Church’s Conference Center, the meeting celebrated the the separation between church and state. According to City 125th anniversary of the Primary. Attorney Ed Rutan, the American Civil Liberties Union could “You have an earthly father,” said President Hinckley, “but still sue the city on the grounds that the plaza is built on a tra- you [also] have your Father in heaven. It is just as important to ditionally free speech space. love and obey your Father in heaven as it is to love and obey your earthly father.” MARTIN’S COVE: CHURCH SAYS NO LEASE Organized 25 August 1878, in Farmington, Utah, the Primary helps teach nearly a million LDS children worldwide. FIVE YEARS AFTER the Church first attempted to buy a Mormon historical site in central Wyoming, negotiations CHURCH ENDORSES NEW PLAN FOR between Church leaders and the Bureau of Land PLAZA ON TEMPLE SQUARE Management (BLM) over Martin’s Cove continue to stall. LDS leaders recently raised objections to a lease draft offered by CITY OFFICIALS AND LDS leaders are making cautious the federal government. Without dismissing completely the moves toward an acceptable solution to the controversy in- possibility of a lease, the Church reiterated its intent to buy volving control over the Church’s Main Street Plaza. the site instead. In an 18 February 2003 press release, Presiding Bishop H. “While some ascribe national significance to the Cove, the
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FROM BRADY TO BROWN: DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISCUSSIONS By John-Charles Duffy BEFORE THE 1950s, the Church did not produce standardized missionary discussions. Instead, missionaries or mission pres- idents created their own lessons for investigators. (The popular book, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, by LeGrand Richards, began as a series of such lessons.) The Church published the first set of standardized discussions in 1953. There have been four sets of standardized discussions to date. A Systematic Program for Teaching the Gospel (1953). These discussions were written as a series of Socratic dialogues between the missionaries and “Mr. Brady,” an investigator. The lessons relied heavily on logic and scriptural prooftexts, and the dia- logues had a tendency to be patronizing and manipulative (reflecting, perhaps, the fact that they were written by missionaries). The Uniform System for Teaching Investigators (1961). Flannel boards were used to present these lessons, which began with a discussion of why Catholic and Protestant claims to authority are invalid. Again, the discussions were written as a series of dialogues, with the investigator’s—now Mr. Brown’s—expected answers spelled out in the discussions. The Uniform System for Teaching Families (1973). Sometimes called the “rainbow discussions,” because each discussion was printed on paper of a different color, these lessons were accompanied by flipcharts. Missionaries had to memorize large blocks of text, pausing periodically to ask open-ended questions of the investigator. The Uniform System for Teaching the Gospel (1986). In these discussions, the amount of text was drastically reduced; mis- sionaries were encouraged to spend more time sharing experiences, bearing testimony, and asking open-ended questions. The first discussion focused not on apostasy and restoration (as in every previous set of standardized discussions), but on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon as witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Church is the only entity paying the bills, maintaining and im- may depart from the order of the lesson, giving that which he proving the site, and assisting the visiting public,” complains is inspired to do, according to the interests and needs of the Riverton Wyoming stake president Lloyd Larsen in a recent investigator.” letter. “This situation has allowed the BLM to control the Cove It is not yet clear whether the order or contents of the six with little or no cost.” discussions will be modified, too. As described by John- A bill that would have transferred property to the Church Charles Duffy in a 1995 Sunstone symposium presentation, was passed by the House last year but died in the Senate due to the emphasis and contents of the discussions have shifted over opposition by the Wyoming’s congressional delegation. time [see sidebar, above]. According to LDS leaders, the BLM site near the Sweetwater River is where several members of a Mormon handcart com- CHURCH LAUNCHES pany died in October 1856. Some scholars contend Martin’s (YET ANOTHER) WEBSITE Cove has been erroneously mapped A NEW OFFICIAL Church website dedicated to temporal, MISSIONARIES NO LONGER TO spiritual, and emotional well-being, has been launched. The MEMORIZE DISCUSSIONS site,
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People though now.” On 7 February, Dettimore’s public role was handed over to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. DIED: Virginia Chapman Bourgeous, star Sunstone volunteer and symposium pre- NOMINATED: by the Director’s Guild of America, LDS di- senter, 7 January 2003, of a long illness. For rector Tasha Oldham for her film The Smith Family, which years after her retirement as a counselor and depicts the compelling story of an LDS family that decides to caseworker for the state of Utah, Virginia stay together after the husband confesses of extramarital af- would work one day a week at Sunstone, fairs with men and both husband and wife learn they are HIV mostly packaging tapes, books, and maga- positive. Filmed between 1999 and zines, and joking regularly about her developing skills as a 2001, the documentary is an intimate mail clerk. With a master’s in educational psychology, look at the way Kim Smith, confronts Virginia’s questing spirit and hunger for knowledge prompted her own illness, supports her 18-year old a strong interest in comparing Church doctrines with teach- son as he embarks on an LDS mission, ings on mysticism, reincarnation, and evolution. A former and takes care of her husband Steve all missionary (two times!), this mother of six, and grandmother the way through to his last breath as he or great-grandmother of twenty-three, will be greatly missed dies from AIDS. for her generous insightful guidance toward peace and fulfill- At a 2002 Sunstone Symposium session, Oldham and ment she so freely shared with her family, clients, and friends, Smith spoke of the circumstances that led them to make this including Sunstone folks. movie. “I originally wanted to make a documentary about the lives of Mormon women and to dispel the misconceptions ARRESTED: Jay Richard Morrison, about who they were,” said Oldham. “But it became apparent Tremonton, Utah, for allegedly threat- that Kim and her family needed their own story.” Smith feels ening to kill President Gordon B. that the “work [of making the documentary] was worth it be- Hinckley and members of the cause the goal has been achieved . . . [to] in some small way Quorum of the Twelve. The alleged help increase awareness. I think we’ve done that.” More in- threats, which include talk of decapi- formation about the documentary, which aired June 2002 as tating President Hinckley, have been part of PBS’s prestigious “Point of View” series, can be found posted since last July to an online newsgroup. According to at
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Celluloid Watch “On the day Troy came out as a gay man, it was as One Lord, One Faith, Two Lehies if a window had dropped THE DECEMBER 2002 SUNSTONE reported on Gary Roger’s through our household” project, The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1. As it turns out, says Barber, “placing Troy another Book of Mormon film, with an $8 million budget, is on one side, siblings and being developed by a different team. Directed by Peter parents on the other. We Johnson, A Voice from the Dust will tell the Book of Mormon could see through that story in several installments. The first episode, Journey to the window—we were still in Promised Land, is scheduled to begin shooting summer 2003. the same home—but some effort had to be made to reach Johnson has already scouted locations in Yemen, where he through it.” recently filmed a FARMS-produced documentary that followed One interesting aspect of this movie is the filmmaker’s inti- Lehi’s path through the Arabian desert. “As I worked on [the mate access to his subjects. “This is an extremely personal documentary], a sense of taking this profound information to film,” says Barber. “I’d say we are a little nervous [about the the ‘next level’ gradually grew to an obvious conclusion,” wrote release]; it’s not easy to feel at ease pouring out your soul in Johnson for Meridian magazine. “Not only should this schol- front of a camera and an audience of strangers.” arly documentary be made, but the grand, epic, dramatic, the- Barber hopes the film will “open up some meaningful and atrical motion picture should also be made.” much needed dialogue between gays and lesbians and their More information about the project is available at families.” “So far, I have gotten warm responses from both
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Solar Flares biannual), and for the first time ever, it is also available on CD-Rom. The new almanac includes a section about the 2002 Are We Mainstream Yet? Survey Says: “No!” According to a Winter Olympics (pages 125–41) and another about the ded- survey by the Institute for Jewish and Community research, ication of the Nauvoo Temple (pages 142–50). Among other 56 percent of Americans see Mormons as holding values and factoids, in this edition, we learn that as of October 2002, the beliefs that are markedly dissimilar to their own. The study, Church has 11.6 million members, that ten LDS athletes par- based on responses from 1,103 randomly selected adults na- ticipated in the 2002 Winter Games, and that the Church cur- tionwide, revealed that exactly the same percentage of rently operates 114 temples—75 of which have been dedi- Americans also perceive Muslims as different from them- cated by President Gordon B. Hinckley. Although the selves. Almanac’s first edition appeared in 1974, the idea of a “It would be nice to imagine people think members of the Mormon yearbook goes back to 1854 when William W. [LDS Church] live in a way that others aspire to,” says LDS Phelps began regular publication of the Deseret Almanac. spokesman Wes Andersen about the survey, “but I’m not cer- The Osbournes Meet the Mormons. How ironic would it be tain that’s what we’re seeing here.” for MTV’s most outrageous family, the Osbournes, to end up BYU Professor John Livingston wonders if the word with a Mormon son-in-law? Perhaps not all that far-fetched an “Mormon” rather than “LDS” in the survey may have slanted idea, considering that Bert McCracken, Kelly Osbourne’s the results. “As a mission president in Detroit,” Livingston boyfriend, is as much of a die-hard rocker as she is. A recov- says, “I found that people didn’t recognize LDS as the same re- ering drug addict from “a strict Mormon home,” McCracken ligion as Mormon.” is a vocalist with The Used, a Utah band that recently up- Smile that Frown Away. A recent graded from a run-down Orem garage to a posh Los Angeles ABC television special about the recording studio. “Music and the Mormon Church I grew up pornography industry featured a with ultimately have the same function,” says McCracken. “It’s 20-year-old LDS woman from all about faith.” Utah who, two years ago, moved Fight for the Right to Be Arty. In a state where conservative re- to California to become a porn ligious views often clash with national trends, a field trip to star. A significant portion of the “Sin City” by a group of high school students turned into a show, which aired 23 January, fol- major debate about education, temptation, repression, and re- lowed the rise of Michelle bellion. When the Mt. Nebo School Board banned some 50 Sinclair, who goes by the stage students from visiting exhibits of rare and valuable artworks name Belladonna. in Las Vegas, a group of Springville parents decided to charter In a porn industry newsletter interview, Sinclair once an- a bus and make the trip without official school sanction. Their swered the question, “How does a good Mormon girl become actions inspired parents from other nearby schools, doubling a porn star?” by saying, “When it’s repressed your whole life, it the size of the original group. just comes spilling out.” However, her deep ambivalence to- Enjoying the extra publicity the story gave to his city, Las ward her chosen profession surfaced when after she smilingly Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman met the students in person, described to reporter Diane Sawyer the sexual acts that she giving them a red carpet reception. The children then visited has been required to perform during her career, Sawyer asked a rare collection of Faberge eggs at the Bellagio Hotel and an her why she always smiles. The question caused the young exhibit at the Venetian Hotel titled “Art through the Ages: star to break down in tears. “I’m not happy,” Sinclair con- Masterpieces of Painting from Titian to Picasso.” fessed. “I don’t like myself at all.” Popular Salt Lake Tribune columnist Robert Kirby “cha- Just the Facts, Especially the Celebratory Ones. Fifty pages paroned” the students on the trip and reported: “The closest longer and one dollar more expensive than its 2001–2002 we got to sin were some slot machines near the exit of the predecessor, the Deseret News 2003 Church Almanac has finally Guggenheim. I stood guard to make sure the kids did not hit the stands. It returns as a yearly publication (rather than stray anywhere near them, losing eight bucks in the bargain.”
NOT OF ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION in the Church-owned Deseret News and on KSL 5 explicitly supported the legislation. IN A RARE move, LDS spokesman Dale Bills came forward to Ruzycka suggested that LDS leaders came out with the correct ultra-conservative Utah lobbyist Gayle Ruzycka about “non-opposition” stance merely in an attempt to quash rumors the Church’s stance toward a proposed “hate crimes” law that that they were endorsing the bill. Not so, says Bills. “Our state- would have imposed heavier penalties on crimes committed ment declared that the Church does not oppose [the bill] as against people because of their race, religion, nationality, or drafted. Period. Any interpretation beyond that is speculative.” sexual orientation. Bills had originally stated simply that the Originally passed by the Utah legislature on a 38-35 vote Church did “not oppose” the Utah hate crimes bill; editorials but later recalled, the bill will not be revisited until next year.
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BYU News Picture Association had assigned the film a PG rating, a father University Allowing War Dissent. BYU student Caleb Prouix is of two students complained about the scene, prompting offi- taking a public and active stance against the pending U.S.-led cials to delete it from subsequent screenings. But, because of war against Iraq. So far, he has passed out antiwar armbands, the scene’s pivotal role in the story, librarians and members of organized two “teach-ins,” and has plans to put together sev- the French faculty felt compelled to still describe it to viewers. eral formal debates. Although approved by school administra- According to associate university librarian Julene Butler, BYU’s tors, the events, one on campus and one off, have been care- legal counsel advised the library they could legally skip the fully labeled as not expressing the official views of the school scene because the film was shown for educational purposes. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During one of the gatherings, after citing a recent Deseret KBYU Pulls Show on Reparative Therapy. Amid complaints News poll showing that Utahns were highly in favor of going from gay activists, BYU’s television station decided not to to war, German and Slavic languages professor Gary Browning broadcast a presentation that would have described homosex- challenged students to think before just going along with the uality as “a serious addiction.” The presentation was originally wave: “We are a culture that tends to run ahead of others in made at BYU by Orem psychotherapist Jeff Robinson as part of terms of using force. I’d like us not always to be in the highest the Families Under Fire conference. Robinson is an advocate percentage of people ready to engage in war.” Anticipating a for reparative therapy, a controversial treatment that is sup- question many students might have, BYU history professor posed to help gay men change their sexual orientation. Ignacio Garcia said, “Is my stand on the war consistent with Michael Mitchell, executive director of the gay political ac- the views of BYU and the beliefs of Latter-day Saints? I am very tion group Unity Utah, was one of those voicing complaints comfortable saying yes.” against the show. “I find [the notion of changing sexual orien- tation] really offensive,” said Mitchell. “I believe God loves us New Guidelines for Instructional Materials. In December exactly how we are.” According to KBYU’s marketing director 2002, BYU officials released a new set of guidelines for the uni- Jim Bell, the decision to yank the broadcast was made by KBYU versity’s faculty, urging them to use only “appropriate” instruc- and not by the Church. tional materials in classrooms and to always teach “in the con- text of gospel values.” The new policy, four years in the Lecture and Panel Tackle Recent DNA Challenge to Book of making, specifically states professors are not to require stu- Mormon Authenticity. In a lecture dealing with faith, science, dents to view unedited R-rated films. and DNA, a BYU professor refuted the notion that the inability In an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, BYU to find Middle Eastern DNA compromises the authenticity of spokesperson Carri Jenkins indicated that the new document the Book of Mormon. The event comes almost one year after is not a “prescription for how faculty need to run their class- anthropology professor Thomas Murphy first published an ar- rooms,” adding that professors will not be disciplined for ticle suggesting that because of the lack of DNA evidence every infraction. However, according to the new rules, those linking Native Americans to the Middle East, the Church “who repeatedly choose inappropriate materials or who pre- needs to abandon its claim that today’s Native Americans de- sent materials in inappropriate ways [will be] counseled.” scend from the peoples described in the Book of Mormon. During the 29 January lecture, BYU biology professor Michael “Porn 101” Won’t be Coming to Y. BYU president Merrill J. Whiting proposed at least two genetic theories that could ac- Bateman made a veiled reference to a controversial Wesleyan count for the loss of Semitic genetic markers among Native University class taught by women’s studies professor Hope American populations. Whiting also mentioned that the reason Weissman, as he denounced the “disturbing and damaging” for the relatively slow response to Murphy’s claims is that “we trend on college campuses of offering so-called “Porn 101” didn’t think his arguments were good enough to respond to.” classes—university courses that analyze pornography from a Murphy, who was not allowed to participate in a panel dis- scholarly viewpoint and sometimes require students to pro- cussion that followed the lecture, sent an open letter to duce a work of pornography as a final project. Whiting defending his research and expressing dismay at the President Bateman asserted that offering courses like this nature of the lecture and discussion: “I am deeply disap- represents “the opposite of what the university’s role should be.” pointed that someone of your stature in the field would resort His remarks came in February 2003 during “Cyber Secrets,” a to such blatant misrepresentations of my research and that of BYU conference, now in its second year, exploring the harmful other leading non-Mormon scholars just to advance a reli- effects of pornography and advising students how to avoid it. gious agenda.” Murphy’s research received wide media atten- tion last November and December, when ecclesiastical leaders Following Complaint, Scene Cut from Film. The Cyber in Lynwood, Washington, threatened him with Church disci- Secrets conference described above took place the same plinary procedures over his article. In a recent development, weekend the Harold B. Lee Library screened Manon des Murphy has announced that he’s met again with his stake Sources, a French film containing a non-sexualized scene of a president who has now cancelled any plans for actions against 16-year-old girl dancing in the nude. Although the Motion his Church membership.
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NEW MAGAZINE SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON “I am in a rather awkward position today of seeing . . . my LDS TEACHINGS AND SUBCULTURE own conjectures about Elijah Abel touted as facts,” Young wrote. In an email to Association for Mormon Letters members A NEW MAGAZINE, Mormon Focus, is about to make its that was also published in the Autumn 2002 issue of AML’s debut on the LDS landscape. The first of its kind, the magazine journal, Irreantum, Young set the record straight, explaining will be centered on early Mormon teachings, principles, and that Abel’s year of birth is uncertain, that no one knows practices and Latter-day Saints who today try to live them. Yet whether he was born a slave or a free man, when he went to it is intended to be read by more than just LDS fundamentalists Canada, or whether he obtained free papers. and the historians and social scientists who study this Mormon Abel’s life has been in the news because of the novel and a subculture. monument unveiled at Abel’s gravesite last September (See The idea for Mormon Focus was generated by the positive re- SUNSTONE, Oct. 2002, p. 75). actions its founders, Shane Whelan and Anne Wilde, have re- ceived to their recent books. Responses from mainstream LDS DRAMATISTS LAUNCH Latter-day Saints to Whelan’s More Than One: Plural THEATRICAL SOCIETY Marriage—A Sacred Heritage, a Promise for Tomorrow and Wilde’s co-authored work, Voices in Harmony: Contemporary AT A TIME when many investors worry about the stock Women Celebrate Plural Marriage have convinced them that market, LDS playwright Thom Duncan decided to invest his many Church members, more than just Fundamentalist savings in Mormon theatre. The fruit of his effort is the re- Mormons, have a significant interest in early Restoration doc- cently launched Nauvoo Theatrical Society—an Orem, Utah, trines and practices. [For more on Whelan’s book and the offi- playhouse where LDS actors, playwrights, and spectators can cial Church reaction, see SUNSTONE, Dec. 2002, p. 74.] celebrate the richness and diversity of Mormon dramatic arts. The magazine will feature arti- Since last September, the group has staged an updated ver- cles on contemporary social issues, sion of Carol Lynn Pearson’s My Turn on Earth; Joyful Noise, Tim LDS doctrine and history, and per- Slover’s moving exploration of sonal faith journeys, and will have the events surrounding the com- regular sections ranging from position of George Frideric health to government to family Handel’s Messiah; and The Way law, tips for home schooling, We’re Wired, Eric Samuelsen’s fun humor, and a kid’s corner. The and insightful treatment of the is- founders hope Mormon Focus will sues facing LDS singles in a family NTS founders, Thom Duncan continue to improve perceptions church. The award-winning play (left) and J.Scott Bronson about LDS fundamentalists that fol- Stones, by J. Scott Bronson, is set to begin March 20. lowed in the wake of their two Dismissing the myth that “there aren’t any Mormon Mormon Focus hopes to change perceptions of those books and has continued through plays,” the Society’s list of potential projects includes 40 who are trying to live the the media coverage of the 2002 works by playwrights such as James Arrington, Davidson “fullness of the gospel” Salt Lake Winter Olympics and Cheney, Tom Rogers, and Tim Slover. “Some of these plays more open efforts by Utah officials to engage the state’s funda- have existed for 25 years,” says Duncan, “but there are no mentalist communities in constructive dialogue. Wilde states: venues for them. We can probably go for 10 years without “Other than a family structure with more than one wife, I be- repeating ourselves.” lieve readers will find the people and groups we feature to be Duncan, who majored in theatre at BYU, rented space in quite normal—loving, spiritual, concerned for their children, downtown Orem and transformed it into a playhouse. He and very active in community service.” found support from long-time friend J. Scott Bronson and BYU Scheduled for an April 2003 launch, Mormon Focus will be a theater professor Paul Duerden. Joining these three on the 64-page, full-color, bi-monthly publication with a cover price of board of trustees are: Steve Quesenberry, Erick Ardmore, $5.95. A six-issue subscription is $29.95. For more informa- Davison Cheney, and Richard Dutcher. tion, visit
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